


Parry

by LearaBribage



Category: Kingdom (Anime & Manga), キングダム | Kingdom
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:09:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25175140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LearaBribage/pseuds/LearaBribage
Summary: Following the awarding ceremony in the aftermath of the Gyou campaign, Ou Hon is inclined to make his appearance in the feast brief. It just happened that he had not counted on Mou Ten's persistence to join him in his evening sparring.
Relationships: Meng Tian & Wang Ben, Meng Tian/Wang Ben, Mou Ten | Meng Tian | Ou Hon | Wang Ben, Ou Hon & Mou Ten, Ou Hon/Mou Ten
Kudos: 10





	Parry

“Has your father said anything to you?” Mou Ten asked once the ceremony concluded, walking alongside him as the others went towards the banquet hall.

Ou Hon arched a brow, crossing his arms. “It is pointless to ask this of me, Mou Ten.”

“Is that why you’re holding back?” Mou Ten eyed him with a smirk.

Ou Hon looked away from him, stepping up the stairs leading to the palace. “I believe my gratitude to His Majesty suffices. Nonetheless, though, I will be brief tonight.”

“How brief?” Mou Ten called out, catching up to him. “Surely you do not want your ascent to be so?”

Ou Hon gritted his teeth at the obvious bait, but he maintained the impassive mask on his face when he pivoted to face Mou Ten again. “The following months after Gyou were spent with the re-organisation of our armies, yes? Therefore, you should understand what I will be pre-occupied with.”

“You are dedicated to your spear, as usual,” Mou Ten remarked, a faint curl on his lips. “How about this then? Spare at least an hour for the feast and I will spar with you.”

Ou Hon eyed him sceptically. “Why are you being insistent?”

“Makes for an interesting night, don’t you think?” Mou Ten answered with a smirk, raising his arms above his head.

“What you do is of no consequence to me,” Ou Hon muttered, following him to the entrance of the banquet hall. He ignored Mou Ten's laughter behind him.

 _There are matters,_ Ou Hon thought wearily, _not worthy of concern._

At the banquet, the hour felt long with the wine he rarely imbibed, but at the very least, disruptions were fewer. He was able to maintain discussions with the men of his unit since the topic was about the continued conquest of Zhao. However, whenever the discussion strayed to the goings-on of their families, he was very glad to hear it. It's just that he was not able to comment as much. Despite that, though, it was still a relief to see that most of them have recovered since the last war in Gyou had taken every bit of courage and strength they could all muster.

Nonetheless, when the hour was up, he left without taking care to notice whether Mou Ten would stick to his word. His participation in his training did not weigh much truly, so his absence was not much of a concern.

"You share an impatient trait with Ri Shin, hmm," Mou Ten spoke out behind him as he was walking down the steps of the palace.

Ou Hon turned to him. "My impatience is nullified by my punctuality in military councils, unlike the idiot you deigned to compare me to. We are rather disparate, so I suggest you not waste your breath with these allegations."

Mou Ten laughed as he walked towards him. "Suggest?" he asked, smirking. "Oh dear, you are turning soft. In the past, you would've threatened me with a hole in my neck."

"Don't make me laugh. We are still near the banquet hall," Ou Hon answered dryly, leading them to an uninhabited training area nearby. "It would be unwise to do so in front of His Majesty."

Mou Ten only curled his lips at him as they gathered their respective weapons and stood at a respective distance to stand in pre-sparring form.

"By the way," Mou Ten said, gripping his jian, "I was musing over our respective units' war records since we're all generals now, but I just realised something regarding your strategy in the capture of Chouyou region in Wei."

Ou Hon arched a brow, scrutinising Mou Ten's stance. It was the usual form, so he watched Mou Ten's right hand instead, wondering if he will attempt a feint with his left, seeing as there was the possibility of attacking with a non-dominant hand before cornering an opponent to a standstill. Further, his full strength has yet to be shown, but Ou Hon remembered how well he parried with Rin Ko and Kou Yoku before. Therefore, his agility was not to be taken lightly.

"What of it?" he nonetheless asked, wondering what made Mou Ten review his parlay in Qin's northern battlefront. 

Mou Ten smirked at him as he suddenly lunged at Ou Hon's left hand — something he expected as he parried it aside. Mou Ten laughed at his counter before he got cornered by Ou Hon.

"I am reminded," Mou Ten said as he pushed Ou Hon forward to escape, "of how similar it was to Riboku's main play with the Coalition Army at Kankoku Pass."

Ou Hon did not halt the thrust of his spear towards Mou Ten's lower leg as he replied, "Is your hindsight outpacing your insight that it took you this long to realise, Mou Ten?"

Mou Ten jumped before he got hit and glanced at Ou Hon with a smile. "Ah, I am not wrong? Great! Granted it was a rough guess, but I figured with how dry your humour was, only you would come up with that strategy. Nicely done, Ou Hon!"

"Hmm," Ou Hon murmured as he tried to launch a Dragon Nest attack towards Mou Ten. 

Despite it not being a surprise, Ou Hon was still unnerved at how Mou Ten successfully parried each thrust. Gritting his teeth, he launched another strike when Mou Ten avoided it by grabbing his spear aggressively before hurling it away with his jian. 

Ou Hon furrowed his brows in anger, but before he could retrieve his spear, Mou Ten's arms suddenly circled around his neck. He tried to resist, but Mou Ten remained persistent, his strength unwavering.

"Unhand me," Ou Hon grumbled against his grip, but Mou Ten only tightened his hold more. "Your frivolity has gone too far."

Mou Ten ignored his diatribe as he leaned closer to Ou Hon, his lips nearly brushing against his ears as he whispered, "And you equivocate like courtiers about your pain."

His eye twitched in barely restrained anger. He had enough of this unnecessary — not to mention, irreverent — tirade, so he grabbed Mou Ten's waist, intending to fling him as far as he could, but still — still, Mou Ten was able to rebuff his movements.

"Your insolence has gone too far," Ou Hon snapped, hands still on Mou Ten's waist. "Why do you like to squander your breath with the lives of other people so much?"

Mou Ten held him tighter. "I told you once, did I not?"

Ou Hon closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. He did recall, but his concerns were rather misplaced. "It is not yours to face," was all he could reply. 

Mou Ten sighed against his neck. "You shouldn't carry that pain all by yourself."

"I've managed quite fine," Ou Hon continued to insist nonetheless.

Mou Ten shook his head against him. "Not entirely," he said, grabbing Ou Hon's face towards him.

"What are yo—!" Ou Hon tried to say before Mou Ten stole his breath, pressing his soft lips against his rough ones.

At first, Ou Hon attempted to resist by placing his hands against his chest, but Mou Ten would not be deterred — he only kissed him harder, deeper until Ou Hon felt his eyes close and he could not fight it any longer — it unnerved him how easily he followed the rhythm of Mou Ten's kisses.

Not to be outdone, however, he grabbed fistfuls of Mou Ten's hair, flipping the both of them to rest Mou Ten's back against the wall as they continued to parry with rough kisses, rapid heart beats, and... and much too late did he realise it — tears. Tears that had fallen softly from his eyes.

When at last the desire for oxygen won against their laboured breaths, Ou Hon gradually slowed his kisses over Mou Ten's face as the latter's lips fell apart, panting against him in the silence of the room.

Mou Ten reciprocated his gentle kisses by caressing his cheeks before removing the band that upheld his long raven hair. Ou Hon sighed involuntarily when Mou Ten's fingers ran through the waves of his hair.

"Hon," Mou Ten murmured again and again until Ou Hon could not unhear it over the rhythm of his own heartbeat. 

Ou Hon ceased his ministrations, resting his hands on Mou Ten's waist. "Why would you—?"

Mou Ten raised a finger to his lips, his darkened eyes becoming lighter again as moonlight filtered from the window behind him. "Your tears tasted bittersweet, Hon. That's why."

Ou Hon removed his hands from Mou Ten, looking away from him. "This," he whispered hoarsely, running his tongue over his swollen lips, "was completely... unnecessary."

"You are not acclimated with lies as I am, Hon-kun," Mou Ten snapped, leaning against the wall. "You hold your tongue well, but you have never learned to prevaricate sweetly."

Ou Hon twitched, glaring at him. "What did you say?"

Mou Ten arched a brow at him, smirking. "Your kisses spoke louder than your anger."

"Might I remind you that you were the one who was rather forward?" Ou Hon rebutted.

Mou Ten laughed, starting to walk away from him. "And yet you still agreed to my request again and again this evening."

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself," Ou Hon answered. "I only agreed that you parry with me and my spear. What happened... what happened after that was a result of your intervention."

Mou Ten looked at him over his shoulder, his brown eyes casting him a piercing gaze. "Is that so? Surely, a kiss is like a battle, no? You parried mine. Excellently, might I add." 

Ou Hon could only glare at him, any sound argument dying on his throat. He rationalised this as a result of the "disruption" earlier and ignored any thoughts contrary to this line of reasoning.

"Shut it," was all he could reply, his thoughts still hazardous from the memories of how Mou Ten's lips felt against his. 

Mou Ten sighed, his shoulders slumping before pivoting towards him again. Quickly again — before Ou Hon could even resist — he re-arranged his disheveled clothes.

"Your tears should dry on their own," Mou Ten whispered, raising his eyes to him as anger coloured his tone. "Just as it's always been, no, Ou Hon?"

Ou Hon caught Mou Ten's hands, meeting his gaze determinedly. What honour would he have left if he lied about the truth of wars? Of what had just transpired? 

"It," he said with much difficulty, feeling his cheeks warm as Mou Ten looked at him with a pained look, "...is a weight I do not take lightly."

"Of cour—," Mou Ten began to say when he suddenly paused as Ou Hon maintained his silence. Suddenly, a faint curl rose over Mou Ten's lips as Ou Hon looked away and removed his hold on him. He fixed his hair in the silence of Mou Ten's gaze. Slowly, a smile rose upon Mou Ten's lips when Ou Hon faced him again. "You certainly know how to hold your tongue when it matters, Hon-kun."

Ou Hon moved away from him, taking his spear from the ground. "If you understand perfectly, then my silence thenceforth is as straightforward as an answer you'll get from me."

"Ahh," Mou Ten laughed, eyeing him fondly, "you are learning to speak like a politician, hmm."

Ou Hon did not meet his gaze as he handed Mou Ten his jian. "There is a time for these kinds of things." 

He felt Mou Ten's fingers brush against his as he said, "Very well, then. We can compare our strategies for the Zhao conquest sometime, then?"

Ou Hon glanced at him from the side and found a certain mischief alight in Mou Ten's eyes. He looked away quickly, if only to hide the warmth he felt rising upon his cheeks from Mou Ten's discerning gaze. 

It was a while before he whispered, "Do as you please." 

A fond curl rose on Mou Ten's lips as they walked together amid the gentle susurrus of trees. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little HC of mine after the trio got promoted as Generals in the aftermath of the Gyou invasion arc. I didn't mean to ship these two, truly, but after Gyou (and looking at pixiv), I was persuaded to do so. 
> 
> Like, I studied [Ou Hon's war record](https://www.reddit.com/r/Kingdom/comments/h8akmn/the_tenacity_and_tact_of_ou_hon/), and phew, I can't help noticing how they've always been so in sync!
> 
> P. S. I also posted this fic in [pixiv](https://www.pixiv.net/novel/show.php?id=13345847). ^_^


End file.
